Friday

29th Mar 2024

Borrell: not enough done against terror since Madrid bombings

EU member states have not done enough in the fight against terror since the bombings in Madrid last year, according to the President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell.

Speaking on Thursday (10 March) in Strasbourg to commemorate the 191 victims of the bombings, Mr Borrell, himself a Spaniard, warned, "we need to recognise that not all the things we agreed in the emotion of the moment have been done".

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  • One year on and still not enough done, said Mr Borrell (Photo: European Parliament)

"Some of the things in the Action plan against terrorism passed by the Council after 11 March have still not been fully applied", he continued.

And he asked, "When are we going to have a European public prosecutor ... when are we going to have legislation preventing money laundering"?

Some member states have dragged their feet on many anti-terror measures agreed in the wake of the Madrid bombings. Italy has yet to ratify the European Arrest Warrant, designed to stop criminals moving freely around the EU.

The UK, amongst others, is opposed to the European public prosecutor, but Mr Borrell noted, "police will be more effective if member states are more effective in exchanging information".

MEPs held a minute's silence in memory of the victims. The ceremony was one day early because the Parliament is not sitting on Friday.

However, an "international day against terrorism" will be held in the Parliament building in Brussels on 11 March.

And Mr Borrell, along with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is attending the "democracy and terrorism" conference in Madrid.

Mr Annan on Thursday (10 March) called for a global strategy against terrorism, according to media reports.

Mr Borrell's comments follow remarks by Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini on Wednesday, who said that Europe was much safer one year after the Madrid bombings but that more still needed to be done by member states.

The EU's anti-terrorism co-ordinator Gijs de Vries also made similar remarks this week, pointing out in an interview with the Financial Times that the slow implementation in member states of measures agreed at EU level, was the biggest obstacle to an effective fight against terrorism.

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